"[N]early a year ago, we saw the terrorists, cold-blooded killers,
using our openness, the openness of our societies against us. We were
awakened to threats that can arrive across our borders ... We have no
choice but to confront the threats head-on, while we preserve the
freedom and the openness of our societies."

President George W. Bush
September 9, 2002

"As we accelerate our progress against terrorism, APEC economies
must also move to meet the challenge of encouraging global economic
growth and bringing the benefits of global markets to all our peoples.
Consequently, we must grow our economies even as we protect our borders
and find new ways to secure our key economic infrastructure from
terrorist attacks."

Today President Bush, together with other APEC leaders,
launched 'Secure Trade in the APEC Region' (STAR) designed to enhance
security while increasing trade.

The STAR initiative commits APEC economies to accelerate
action on screening people and cargo for security before transit;
increasing security on ships and airplanes while en route; and
enhancing security in airports and seaports.

This initiative complements the transport security initiative
President Bush secured at the G-8 Kananaskis Summit this June, as well
as smart border programs President Bush has launched with Mexico and
Canada and advances a vision of security that pushes the perimeter
beyond the physical border. A number of APEC economies, encompassing
most of the biggest ports in the region, have also agreed to
participate in the U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative.

The Challenge: The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001,
illustrated how critical the international transport system is to our
economic and national security. We must promote the efficient and
reliable movement of people and goods across borders, while preventing
the tools of transport from becoming tools of terrorism:

APEC countries account for over 50 percent of the world's
trade, 21 of the world's 30 top container seaports, and 23 of the
world's 30 busiest airports.

Approximately 90 percent of the
world's cargo moves by container.

Globally over 48 million cargo
containers move between major seaports each year. Each year, more than
16 million containers arrive in the United States by ship, truck, and
rail.

More than 14,000 planes are flying in the global fleet of
commercial airlines.

APEC Plan of Action: The U.S. proposed earlier this year that APEC
address this challenge by advancing secure trade initiatives. Today
APEC agreed and committed to a plan of action that will:

Protect cargo by

Identifying and examining high-risk containers, assuring
in-transit integrity, and providing advance electronic information on
containers to customs, port, and shipping officials as early as
possible in the supply chain;

Implementing by 2005 common standards for electronic customs
reporting;

Promoting private-sector adoption of high standards of supply
chain security.

Protect ships by

Promoting ship and port security plans by July 2004 and
installation of automatic identification systems on certain ships by
December 2004;

Cooperating to fight piracy in the region.

Protect international aviation by

Introducing new baggage screening procedures and equipment in
all APEC major airports by 2005;

Implementing a common global standard on advance passenger
information.

Adopting biometrics standards, such as those being developed
by the ICAO and the International Standards Organization.

Reforming immigration service procedures.

Promoting adoption of air cargo security guidelines developed
by ICAO and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Container Security Initiative and other U.S. Efforts: The United
States has been working bilaterally and multilaterally to keep the
arteries of commerce clear while strengthening security surrounding the
world's transportation infrastructure. We have comprehensive smart
border initiatives underway with Mexico and Canada that use modern
technology to enhance security and expedite legitimate cross-border
travel and commerce. The U.S. Customs Service is, through its
Container Security Initiative (CSI), partnering with key ports to
introduce pre-screening and risk analysis of cargo containers based on
advance information. Fifty percent of containerized cargo shipments to
the United States originate in 10 key megaports, 6 of which are in
APEC. Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, and most recently China
have agreed to participate in CSI, and we are seeking to expand CSI to
a number of other Asia-Pacific countries.